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| AP Photo/Manish Swarup |
In the 17 Grands Prix this season, Michael Schumacher has now failed to score in ten races with his outing in India adding up to his dismal statistic this year.
After a disappointing qualifying session which saw him line up 14th on the grid for the Indian Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver was clipped by the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne at the start forcing the German to pit for a fresh set tyres following the resultant puncture.
The seven-time world champion rejoined at the back of the grid, unable to recover from the collision and later came under investigation by the stewards for ignoring blue flags, although he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“That was a pretty unsatisfactory race,” Schumacher said. “It was effectively over just after the start; I lost so much time getting back to the pits with the puncture that any hope of scoring points was gone.
“In the meantime, the pace was pretty good but I was too far behind to make up more than a few positions. In the end, we had to retire the car for technical reasons,” he added.
The Mercedes was called in the pits five laps before the end of the race as a precaution after the team became aware of some gearbox concerns.
Teammate Nico Rosberg meanwhile finished 11th with Mercedes now having failed to score in the last three races.